Objective OUTNANO is about developing a new generation of nanophotonic devices by exploiting ultrafast dynamics of electrons driven out-of-equilibrium.Photonic sciences profoundly impact our society, enabling the development of high-technology devices that are currently employed in our daily life: DVD players, LEDs, laser printers, barcode scanners, displays, sensors, optical fibres, medical equipment and many others.Among the future frontiers of photonics, the achievement of ultraviolet lasers, compact white-light sources, and on-the-chip signal processing play a crucial role for several applications, e.g. all-optical computing, spectroscopy, imaging techniques, bio-sensing, cancer treatment, dental surgery, and micro-machining.Extreme exploitation of optical nonlinearities in nanophotonic components is fundamentally important in tackling these challenges, as frequency conversion mechanisms can be enhanced to generate ultraviolet radiation. Besides, optical nonlinearity enables active controlling of light by means of light, a basic requirement for developing all-optical devices. The high field enhancement provided by plasmonic materials and metamaterials is crucial for the full exploitation of nonlinear effects. Currently, the inherent high losses of these materials hamper their efficiency and their application in new-generation photonic devices.OUTNANO aims at tackling these challenges of nanophotonics by using ultrashort optical pulses with time duration of few femtoseconds, which drive the out-of-equilibrium electron plasma in the collisionless regime, where ohmic losses are suppressed. This novel regime enables the development of low-loss plasmonic circuits for on-chip all-optical computing and the engineering of highly nonlinear nanophotonic devices with enhanced efficiencies for generating UV radiation and for achieving ultra-compact white-light sources. Fields of science natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticslaser physicsultraviolet lasers Keywords Plasmonics metamaterials nanophotonics nonlinear optics nonlinear plasmonics nonlinear metamaterials Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2016 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2016 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE Net EU contribution € 168 277,20 Address PIAZZALE ALDO MORO 7 00185 Roma Italy See on map Region Centro (IT) Lazio Roma Activity type Research Organisations Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 168 277,20
